For the best user experience, upgrade your browser.

Thanks for visiting! This site makes use of some web technologies not supported by Internet Explorer 9. To optimize your experience, please upgrade your browser. If you prefer, you can use a different browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

Prince Charles

The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The life and loves of Prince Charles are illuminated in a major new biography from the New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen—perfect for fans of The Crown.

Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than three hundred years. This vivid, eye-opening biography—the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus, and more, some speaking on the record for the first time—is the first authoritative treatment of Charles's life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day.Prince Charles brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities, and convictions. It begins with his lonely childhood, in which he struggled to live up to his father's expectations and sought companionship from the Queen Mother and his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. It follows him through difficult years at school, his early love affairs, his intellectual quests, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his intense search for spiritual meaning. It tells of the tragedy of his marriage to Diana; his eventual reunion with his true love, Camilla; and his relationships with William, Kate, Harry, and his grandchildren. Ranging from his glamorous palaces to his country homes, from his globe-trotting travels to his local initiatives, Smith shows how Prince Charles possesses a fiercely independent spirit and yet has spent more than six decades waiting for his destined role, living a life dictated by protocols he often struggles to obey. With keen insight and the discovery of unexpected new details, Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic, and compelling than we knew, until now.Praise for Prince Charles

"[Smith] understands the British upper classes and aristocracy (including the royals) very well indeed. . . . [She] makes many telling, shrewd points in pursuit of realigning the popular image of Prince Charles."—William Boyd, The New York Times Book Review"[A] masterly account."—The Wall Street Journal "Thoroughly researched and insightful . . . In this profile, it is clear [Smith] got inside the circular barriers that protect the man and his position. The Charles that emerges is, as the subtitle suggests, both a paradox and a creature of his passions."—The Washington Times"[A] compellingly juicy bio . . . Windsor-philes will be mesmerized."—People "Prince Charles paints an affectingly human portrait. . . . Smith writes about [Charles's life] with a skill and sympathy she perfected in her 2012 biography of Charles's mother."—TheChristian Science Monitor"Comprehensive and admirably fair . . . Until his accession to the throne, Smith's portrait will stand as the definitive study."—Booklist (starred review)"[A] fascinating book that is not just about a man who would be king, but also about the duties that come with privilege."—Walter Isaacson"Sally Bedell Smith has given us a complete and compelling portrait of the man in the shadow of the throne. It's all here, from the back stairs of the palaces to the front pages of the tabs."—Tom Brokaw

EPUB eBook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The life and loves of Prince Charles are illuminated in a major new biography from the New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen—perfect for fans of The Crown.

Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than three hundred years. This vivid, eye-opening biography—the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus, and more, some speaking on the record for the first time—is the first authoritative treatment of Charles's life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day.Prince Charles brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities, and convictions. It begins with his lonely childhood, in which he struggled to live up to his father's expectations and sought companionship from the Queen Mother and his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. It follows him through difficult years at school, his early love affairs, his intellectual quests, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his intense search for spiritual meaning. It tells of the tragedy of his marriage to Diana; his eventual reunion with his true love, Camilla; and his relationships with William, Kate, Harry, and his grandchildren. Ranging from his glamorous palaces to his country homes, from his globe-trotting travels to his local initiatives, Smith shows how Prince Charles possesses a fiercely independent spirit and yet has spent more than six decades waiting for his destined role, living a life dictated by protocols he often struggles to obey. With keen insight and the discovery of unexpected new details, Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic, and compelling than we knew, until now.Praise for Prince Charles

"[Smith] understands the British upper classes and aristocracy (including the royals) very well indeed. . . . [She] makes many telling, shrewd points in pursuit of realigning the popular image of Prince Charles."—William Boyd, The New York Times Book Review"[A] masterly account."—The Wall Street Journal "Thoroughly researched and insightful . . . In this profile, it is clear [Smith] got inside the circular barriers that protect the man and his position. The Charles that emerges is, as the subtitle suggests, both a paradox and a creature of his passions."—The Washington Times"[A] compellingly juicy bio . . . Windsor-philes will be mesmerized."—People "Prince Charles paints an affectingly human portrait. . . . Smith writes about [Charles's life] with a skill and sympathy she perfected in her 2012 biography of Charles's mother."—TheChristian Science Monitor"Comprehensive and admirably fair . . . Until his accession to the throne, Smith's portrait will stand as the definitive study."—Booklist (starred review)"[A] fascinating book that is not just about a man who would be king, but also about the duties that come with privilege."—Walter Isaacson"Sally Bedell Smith has given us a complete and compelling portrait of the man in the shadow of the throne. It's all here, from the back stairs of the palaces to the front pages of the tabs."—Tom Brokaw

Why is availability limited?

The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:

Disney video end user license agreement (EULA)

Before you stream any Disney Content, carefully read this EULA. Before you can license any Disney Content, you will be asked to accept all the terms of this EULA. If you do not wish to accept all the terms of this EULA, you will not be able to license the Disney Content.

You understand and agree that the Disney Content you receive through the OverDrive service, such as Disney movies, images, artwork and other copyrightable materials (the "Disney Content") is licensed by OverDrive from Disney. The Disney Content you receive through the OverDrive service, including the copyrights in the Disney Content, is owned by Disney, and is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. OverDrive and Disney do not transfer any title, right or interest to or in the Disney Content to you.

Disney Content delivered to you through the OverDrive service is licensed to you; not sold, transferred or assigned to you.

OverDrive grants you a non-exclusive and non-assignable sublicense to stream and view a copy of the Disney Content only on approved devices only for the purpose of your personal, non-commercial viewing of the Disney Content consistent with the terms of this license. The delivery of the Disney Content does not transfer to you any commercial or promotional use rights in the Disney Content. All other rights in the Disney Content are reserved by Disney, and any other use is strictly prohibited.

You may not transfer, distribute, copy or reproduce the Disney Content or any portion thereof onto any physical medium, memory, server, device or other hardware, or any other medium now known or hereafter devised. In addition, you may not sell, rent, lease, redistribute or sublicense the Disney Content. You may not attempt to circumvent, avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, impair or otherwise defeat any encryption, rights signaling or copy protection technology in which the Disney Content is wrapped or otherwise associated with, and you may not edit, modify, translate or create derivative works or adaptations of the Disney Content. You may not decompile, copy, reproduce, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the computer file in which the Disney Content is stored to a human-readable form.

You may not stream or transmit Disney Content outside of the United States of America and Canada, and their respective territories, possessions and associated commonwealths.

The Disney Content is provided "AS IS". Disney expressly disclaims any warranties and conditions, express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to, warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, satisfactory quality and noninfringement, and their equivalents under the laws of any jurisdiction. Disney does not warrant or otherwise state that the Disney Content will meet your requirements.

Under no circumstances shall Disney be liable for any damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any kind under any legal theory (tort, contract or otherwise) that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the Disney Content, even if Disney has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Any material breach of the EULA, including without limitation, copying or distribution of the Disney Content, will result in termination of the license for such Disney Content.

Place a hold

Success!

Send to Nook® app

If this is your first time selecting "Send to NOOK® app," you will be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK® app."

You can read periodicals on any NOOK tablet or in the free NOOK reading app for iOS, Android, or Windows 8.